Beneath The Mask of Happiness
by fallenmelody
Summary: For Brooke Davis, pain has become inevitable.  But what she will eventually realize is that suffering is optional. [BL]


**Author's Note:** The last thing I should be doing is posting up another story, but I figured out why I haven't been updating my Naley stories. I struggle with that couple and I don't write them well. So I decided to give Brucas a try and as luck would have it, this came really easily to me. So hopefully you'll enjoy this. I've never, ever worked this hard to get something the way I want it, and I have so many people to thank for it.

I'd like to thank **Dawn** _(BabbleBaby), _**Becca** (_pinkythesupergirl_), and **Sneha** _(MrsLucasScott)_ for being the first ones to read it over and tell me it wasn't total crap! I would have deleted it if they did. Lol. Thanks to **Hannah** _(wishinonastar)_, **Kristen** (_OTH.daddy'sgurl.06_), **Emmy, **and **Chloe** (_don't know their names on here. Lol_) for just being there for me and being their supportive selves! Big thanks to** Lori** (_Lorilozz_) for beta'ing this so quickly and being the most amazing friend. Huge thanks to **Jess** _(kaos2405)_ for getting me through this first chapter and hopefully many to come. She's a great muse, I don't know how I would have done this without her. She's amazing and I don't know how I could ever begin to thank her. Hopefully she doesn't get too tired of me. Lol. **Sam** (xo going nowhere), thank you for just being you! You've helped me with this fic in ways you don't even know! I want to be just like you when I grow up ;)

Now, go read my loves :) And remember... I'm a review whore so you know what to do ;)

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**Chapter 1: Falling Apart At The Seams**

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to have the one person you love more than anything in this world break your heart without a second thought? For them to cheat on you and not stop to think how it would make you feel? Can you imagine being at your lowest point in life, and then find out your boyfriend of 4 years is cheating on you with your best friend?

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_Flashback _

_Even as he called out her name she didn't look back. Not once did she turn around and look at the man who had royally screwed her over again. He'd hurt her more times than she could count and the last time he'd broken her heart, she promised herself she wouldn't let him do it again. In high school, she'd been the girl everyone wanted to be, Lucas Scott's girlfriend. She reveled in being the one that captured his heart, or so she thought._

_She hadn't even noticed the tears falling until she tasted the salt on her lips. She swore she'd never shed another tear for him, and here she was, choking back the pain he'd caused her._

_This wasn't a new way of life for Brooke Davis. She always seemed to be running from something in her life. Whether it was Lucas, her absentee parents, or her failed friendship with Peyton, she ran from Tree Hill, from her life, because that was the fastest way to fix things. And even then, things were never fixed when she left them behind._

_Brooke gulped for air, the cold wind whipping at her cheeks, turning them a dark shade of pink. Her breathing was labored as she climbed into her car, her hands gripping onto the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. The tears continued to fall, her cheeks now coated in the tears that weren't even supposed to be there. She wasn't supposed to let him in her heart again._

_Thinking back to the first time Lucas had cheated on her with Peyton, her heart broke a little more. She remembered the guilt in his eyes and all the speeches he gave that won her heart again, even after he'd broken it into a thousand smaller pieces. She tried to convince herself that she was a naïve teenager back then and that she was smart enough now to not let him back in the one place he never belonged; her heart. _

_Brooke took a few deep breaths, repeating over and over that this was the last time she'd let him hurt her. The last time she'd ever see him. She couldn't even remember the last time she saw a genuine smile on his face or the last time she saw the fiery passion in his eyes when he spoke to her._

_After taking a few more minutes to collect herself, her eyes focused on the man standing there, looking in her window. No more than a moment later, her best friend appeared beside him clad in a man's dress shirt. _

"_Brooke, nothing happened," Lucas lied, his eyes silently begging for the forgiveness they both knew he didn't deserve._

_Her eyes flashed with an anger he'd never seen before as she spoke the words he never dreamed she'd say. "I told you that my heart is not a toy, Lucas Eugene Scott, but you chose not to listen. I'm done playing this game with you. I've forgiven you one too many times for breaking my heart, and I just can't do it anymore. Have a nice life with the whore you picked over me."_

_She sent a disgusted look in Peyton's direction before she put her key in the ignition and pulled out from the spot, not daring to look back. A new wave of emotions washed over her as she drove away, not sure of where she'd end up when all was said and done._

_Her heart was racing as she sped down the street, going many miles past the speed limit in a Tree Hill neighborhood. But in this very moment, that was the last thing on her mind. The only thing she could think about was getting as far away from Lucas Scott as possible._

_Her car came to a stop in front of an apartment complex near her old high school, her hands shaking with anticipation. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, reassuring herself that Haley and Nathan would be there for her no matter what. They were her friends, and they'd hold her while she cried and they'd mend her shattered heart._

_Brooke pulled open the car door, letting her feet hit the ground with a thud, and pushed the door closed with the palm of her hand. The back pocket of her jeans started to vibrate, the screen of her cell phone lighting up as she squinted at it. It flashed LUCAS across the screen, causing her palms to become clammy and her vision to blur from the tears forming in her eyes. _

_She finally shut off the phone with the click of a button and made her way up the never-ending set of stairs. Before she even had the chance to knock, Haley pulled it open and pulled Brooke into her arms without hesitation. The motherly comfort that surrounded Haley__was exactly what Brooke needed right now; someone to watch over her and tell her everything would be all right, even when she felt as if the world was falling apart around her._

_Haley's stomach dropped as Brooke released a heart-wrenching sob, the energy she'd had before slowly draining from her body. Brooke had always been the strong, stubborn one that fell in love too easily with the boy that would surely destroy her and Haley had known that from the moment she found out that Lucas and Brooke were more than just friends. She was fully aware that she was right and all she could do now was comfort Brooke and help her put back the pieces of her broken heart._

_Nathan blinked in surprise as his wife guided Brooke into the apartment after just putting James to bed. His breath caught in his throat when he realized that this was all Lucas' doing. Only his brother could break the invincible Brooke Davis._

_His blood boiled at the thought of Lucas hurting her again. Brooke had never been his favorite person through high school; they'd had a love/hate relationship for as long as he could remember. But seeing her like this wasn't something he enjoyed at all. And knowing it was his brother's fault was even harder to come to terms with. _

_He rushed to the other side of Brooke, staring at her broken form as Haley rocked her back and forth silently as the brunette wept hysterically. He held her hand, squeezing it reassuringly to let her know he was there for her and only her. Brooke's eyes traveled to Nathan, only to see the face of Lucas in his place. Everywhere she looked, she saw the man that would haunt her thoughts until the day she died._

_End Flashback _

Brooke was broken from her reverie by a man's hand appearing on her shoulder. She looked up into the piercing blue eyes of Lucas Scott and pasted the fake smile she'd perfected on her face.

"You ready, babe?" he asked gently as he held out his hand for her to take. His smile was sweet, and if she didn't know better she'd believe it was genuine. But she did know better. She wasn't naïve enough to believe she was the love of Lucas' life even if he was the love of hers.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she reassured him as she held onto his hand and stepped off the plane they'd taken from New York to Tree Hill. She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger, not wanting to believe that it was all a lie.

She had tried to forgive both Lucas and Peyton over the years, but never succeeded. So, she lied. She lied about her forgiveness and she lied when she said yes to Lucas' proposal. She would always love Lucas, but she'd never be happy. Not with him as her husband or Peyton as her best friend.

But what choice did she have now? She was pregnant with a child Lucas didn't know about and she was getting married in a week.

Her eyes clouded over with tears just thinking about the night she took him back, the night their baby was conceived, and how stupid she'd been when they stood out in the rain while he begged for forgiveness just like they had in high school. Her car had broken down so she gave in and started to walk the long road back to the apartment she shared with Haley, and as luck would have it he was driving by and offered her a ride.

When he only received a middle finger in return, he jumped out of the car and chased after her as she ran down the street, trying to get away from him. He finally caught up with her, giving his well-rehearsed speech just as she suspected he would.

"Brooke wait!" he had yelled, grabbing onto her arm as he spun her around to face him. "I can't keep doing this, baby. I need you. I was wrong to pick Peyton over you before, you and I both know that!" Her eyes had been looking everywhere except his face that night, until his hand gripped her chin, forcefully asking her to look at him. "I can't believe how stupid I was to let you go and I'm done playing games now. I love you, Brooke, and I could come up with a thousand reasons why I love you, and not Peyton. You're my whole world and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since… that night that you found us. Just tell me we'll be okay and I'll give you the world, Brooke." She remembered the doubt running through her mind when she told him they'd be okay and then he asked her the one question she'd never expected him to ask. "Will you marry me, Brooke Penelope Davis?"

And because she said yes to that one question, in one week she'd be surrounded by her friends and family, telling her how beautiful she looked and how she couldn't be luckier. She'd then hear the classic wedding march as she walked down the isle with Nathan Scott, because of course her parents wouldn't be able to make it. She'd promise her love to a man who didn't love her back with every fiber of his being, and she'd live in Tree Hill for the rest of her life, struggling to find the peace and serenity she's been longing for.

And once again, she'd hide behind that mask of happiness and smile her most fake smile before she walked down the isle towards her destiny, the destiny she'd chosen all along. She just hadn't pictured it like this. She thought she'd be happy, and she thought that she'd be the apple of Lucas Scott's eye. But that was no longer the case. For now and for always, she'd share the spotlight with the curly, blonde woman named Peyton Sawyer.


End file.
